Senate Democrats slammed the Agriculture Department’s decision to decentralize its operations and relocate employees based in Washington, citing possible downsizing and research implications.
On Wednesday, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden testified before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to discuss last week’s USDA decentralization announcement.
“I am extremely concerned about the harm that this reorganization will have on USDA research,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said.
This plan includes moving more than half of the 4,600 USDA workers to regional offices and closing four buildings in Washington. Vaden said the department will save approximately $4 billion as a result.
By relocating to regional offices, the agency will be able to pay employees less, in accordance with the federal pay scale. The department also would not have to pay maintenance fees on the buildings in Washington.
Klobuchar recalled the relocation of the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, stating it was “nothing but a disaster.”
When the NIFA got relocated, Klobuchar claimed that “farmers didn’t get timely economic information, and researchers were left waiting for critical funding.”
“This reorganization plan would create similar chaos, but on a much grander scale,” Klobuchar said.
The senator said she supports “efforts to make the USDA work” but does not think “getting rid of 15,000 employees, which has already happened because of early buyouts, firing people, and because of everything else that’s happened, is good for agriculture.”
The 15,364 people who have left the USDA chose to leave, accepting deferred resignation plans.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) also raised concerns about the offices and employees, specifically in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
However, Vaden claimed that the USDA chose the buildings it is shutting down because they are 60% occupied, in accordance with the “Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act,” which was enacted during the Biden administration.
He emphasized that employees will be given the opportunity to move for their jobs, primarily to give them the opportunity to keep working at lower living costs.
Vaden could not answer whether the employees’ consultation had been conducted but said all USDA employees are “pending consultation.”
Vaden, who was sworn in on July 7, is “not helping rural America,” Klobuchar said. The Senate committee did not receive consultation from the USDA on its decision before it was announced.
While Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) did not raise concerns for prior consulting with the committee, he did say he is “concerned that there wasn’t any negotiation with the unions.”
According to Vaden, groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Union were not consulted prior to the USDA’s decision to decentralize.
“I just really want to make sure that we have the voice of the union here,” Fetterman said. “I really want to have more, and to commit to more union engagement for all of this.”
The USDA’s relocation is partially due to high living costs in Washington, making it harder for people to live close to their workplace, Vaden said.
However, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) noted that none of the proposed locations are in the top 10 agricultural states.
The proposed new regional hub locations are Raleigh, North Carolina; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City.
Schiff raised concerns about the impact on California farmers, given that the closest regional hub would be 500 miles away in Utah, especially because they do not qualify for disaster assistance.
California grants for disaster assistance have been canceled, and Schiff is wary of whether the resources will actually reach farmers in his state.
USDA TO DECENTRALIZE AND RELOCATE DC WORKFORCE
“California farmers would rather have the experience of the current USDA employees in Washington than an inexperienced group of new employees in Utah,” Schiff said.
The USDA’s decision, despite Democratic backlash, aligns with the Trump administration’s broader goal of relocating federal employees outside of Washington and decreasing the overall size of the government workforce.